Latin Business Chronicle

Reflections on Colombia's DMG Affair

Apr 02 -- Latin America's lack of bank credit spurs scammers like David Murcia Guzman and his DMG Ponzi scheme.

Andres Otero
2 de abril de 2009

While the world is still shocked by the Madoff affair – the high profile Ponzi scheme that continues to affect international banks, private funds, and high-net worth individuals across the globe – smaller scale pyramid schemes keep multiplying in many Latin American countries and elsewhere, affecting millions of individual investors.

As lawyers in the United States are preparing to sue banks and feeder funds, victims are growing in number by the day. Scams are equal opportunity affairs. They do not distinguish by nationality, race, social standing, wealth, education, profession, or background. Whether a high profile hedge fund in an office on New York’s Fifth Avenue or a dodgy operation run from a warehouse with two chairs in a South American shantytown, the impact is the same: victims have been fleeced by the thousand and the credibility of the global financial system has been compromised.
 
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